Q-School: Hopp, Bennett, Dudbridge and Part Into Phase II

HOPP, BENNETT, & PART AMONG TBOSE TO ADVANCE TO FINAL STAGE OF PDC Q SCHOOLS

Germany’s Max Hopp and teenage talent Leighton Bennett headlined the list of 16 players to automatically progress to the Final Stage of PDC Qualifying Schools on Wednesday.

Day Three of 2024 PDC Qualifying Schools saw the First Stage action conclude in Milton Keynes and Kalkar, as hundreds of hopefuls continued to battle for the chance to compete on the PDC circuit in 2024-2025.

First Stage, which took place from January 8-10, saw players from across the globe attempting to qualify to compete in the Final Stage, where 31 Tour Cards will be on offer from January 11-14.

Eight players per day progressed from the First Stage at each venue, with the remaining places going to players from a First Stage Order of Merit in each region.

Former World Youth Champion Hopp headlined the eight players to win through European Qualifying School on Wednesday, after recovering from 4-3 down to deny Martijn Dragt in the last 16.

Hopp – a winner of two PDC ranking titles – also edged out Finland’s Marko Kantele in a last-leg shoot-out, having earlier averaged 99 in a 5-1 thumping of Latvia’s World Cup representative Dmitriy Zhukov.

Hopp’s fellow countrymen Kai Gotthardt and Franz Roetzsch also raced through to the last eight on home soil, where they were joined by Dutch duo Davy Proosten and Stefan Schroder.

Denmark’s World Cup star Benjamin Reus also remained in the hunt for a Tour Card after winning through on Day Three, alongside Greek veteran John Michael and impressive Japanese star Ryuta Arihara.

Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf – who reached round three at last month’s World Darts Championship – was beaten in the last 16, but he comfortably progressed to the Final Stage via the First Stage Order of Merit.

Former Lakeside champion Jelle Klaasen was among the 83 players to advance via the European First Stage Order of Merit, with New Zealand duo Ben Robb and Haupai Puha also keeping their Tour Card dreams alive.

Germany’s Nico Kurz and Sweden’s World Cup quarter-finalist Oskar Lukasiak will also feature in the Final Stage, which gets underway on Thursday.

Meanwhile, at UK Qualifying School, 18-year-old Bennett automatically advanced to the Final Stage in Milton Keynes, conceding just eight legs in his five matches.

Bennett won through alongside fellow youngster Henry Coates, former Tour Card Holder Scott Taylor and two-time UK Open Qualifier Rhys Griffin on another action-packed day at the Marshall Arena.

Lee Cocks, Tom Lonsdale, Joe Croft and Paul Redfern made up the list of automatic qualifiers on Wednesday, while several star-studded names advanced via the First Stage Order of Merit.

Three-time World Champion John Part celebrated comeback wins over Graham Rackstraw and Darren Barton to reach the last 64 on Wednesday, which was enough to book his spot in the Final Stage.

William Borland – who famously landed a sensational nine-darter at the 2021/22 World Darts Championship – claimed the last qualification spot, as former UK Open semi-finalist Alan Norris also battled through.

2005 World Championship runner-up Mark Dudbridge finished top of the UK First Stage Order of Merit, while American ace Alex Spellman recorded a 12th place finish after landing a trio of ton-plus averages on Tuesday.

Former UK Open finalist Colin Osborne, 2022 World Youth Championship runner-up Nathan Girvan and Hong Kong’s Kai Fan Leung will also take part in the Final Stage of UK Q School, which will take place over the next four days in Milton Keynes.

A total of 31 PDC Tour Cards will be on offer in Final Stage from January 11-14, with each of the daily winners in the UK and Europe receiving an automatic Tour Card.

The remaining 23 Tour Cards will be allocated to players from the UK and European Q School Final Stage Orders of Merit, with a further 13 Tour Cards on offer via European Q School, while ten players will come through the UK rankings.

Any ties in the respective Q School Orders of Merit will be split as follows based on all match results: Leg Difference, Legs Won, then DartConnect average. If players still cannot be split, a play-off would be organised.

2024 PDC Qualifying Schools

UK Qualifying School

First Stage Day Three
Last 16
Rhys Griffin 5-3 Mark Dudbridge
Joe Croft 5-4 Greg Ritchie
Leighton Bennett 5-2 Adam Paxton
Lee Cocks 5-3 Jacob Gwynne
Tom Lonsdale 5-4 James Huthwaite
Scott Taylor 5-3 Derek Maclean
Henry Coates 5-4 Scott Campbell
Paul Redfern 5-3 Joshua Richardson

2024 European Qualifying School
First Stage Day Three
Last 16
Max Hopp 5-4 Martijn Dragt
Franz Roetzsch 5-0 Mladen Radosavljevic
Davy Proosten 5-4 Christian Goedl
Benjamin Drue Reus 5-2 Michele Turetta
Stefan Schroder 5-4 Jeffrey De Graaf
Ryuta Arihara 5-4 Jeroen Caron
Kai Gotthardt 5-3 Patrick Bulen
John Michael 5-3 Dennie Olde Kalter

UK Qualifying School Final Stage Field
Players exempt to Final Stage:
John Henderson, Andy Boulton, Dom Taylor, James Hurrell, Darryl Pilgrim, Robert Grundy, Scott Mitchell, Conan Whitehead, Bradley Brooks, Cam Crabtree, Jarred Cole, Connor Scutt, Scott Waites, Richie Burnett, John O’Shea, Ted Evetts, Lewis Williams, Joe Murnan, James Wilson, Ross Montgomery, Darren Webster, Shaun Wilkinson, Devon Petersen, Kevin Burness, Nick Fullwell, Steve Lennon, George Killington.

Automatic Qualifiers from First Stage:
Harry Lane, Danny Lauby, Adam Hunt, Patrick Lynskey, Llew Bevan, Matthew Dennant, Mike Warburton, Kieron Bridgwater, Jamie Atkins, Fallon Sherrock, Shane McGuirk, Chris Quantock, Patrik Williams, Kevin Lane, Charlie Martin, Andy Hamilton, Paul Redfern, Tom Lonsdale, Leighton Bennett, Joe Croft, Scott Taylor, Rhys Griffin, Henry Coates, Lee Cocks.

Order of Merit Qualifiers
Mark Dudbridge, Kevin Thomas, Stuart Wares, Justin Hood, Joshua Richardson, Thomas Lovely, Thomas Banks, Scott Campbell, Adam Paxton, Keelan Kay, Derek Maclean, Alex Spellman, Brett Claydon, Thomas Cromwell, Carl Wilson, Daniel Astbury, Darren Beveridge, Darren Armstrong, Harry Gregory, Peter Jacques, Lewis Gurney, Jim Walker, Liam Goyne, Lee Williams, James-Howard Hughes, Kevin Leadenham, Greg Ritchie, Jim McEwan, Peter Burgoyne, Sam Cankett, Jim Moston, Steve Haggerty, Peter Mitchell, Ashley Coleman, Dan Read, Gary Brown, Christopher Harvey, Kamil Janowicz, Ashley McKeever, Jacob Gwynne, Adrian Gray, Alec Small, Justin Smith, Keith Rooney, Scott Winder, Cory Evans, Chris Hartrey, Richard North, James Huthwaite, Aden Kirk, Michael Flynn, James Beeton, Kai-Fan Leung, Colin Osborne, Patrick Quinn, Sam Spivey, Dean Forde, Edward Price, Ryan O’Connor, Peter Hudson, Carl Beattie, David Wawrzewski, Jonathan Kavanagh, John Part, Ryan Furness, Mathew Wood, Niall Culleton, Sean Fisher, Alan Norris, Robbie Martin, Owen Maiden, Brandon Jones, Nathan Girvan, Tommy Morris, Mat Caste, Jake Neale, William Borland.

European Qualifying School Final Stage Field
Players exempt to Final Stage:
Dragutin Horvat, Thibault Tricole, Chris Landman, Wesley Plaisier, Christian Kist, Sebastian Bialecki, Dominik Gruellich, Bradly Roes, Christopher Toonders, Vladimir Andersen, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Mario Vandenbogaerde, Radek Szaganski, Danny Jansen, Darius Labanauskas, Jules van Dongen, Krzysztof Kciuk, Brian Raman, Jimmy Hendriks, Jose Justicia, Damian Mol.

Automatic Qualifiers from First Stage:
Arno Merk, Filip Sebesta, Anton Ostlund, Stefan Bellmont, Stefaan Henderyck, Matthias Ehlers, Felix Schiertz, Vitezslav Sedlak, Ron Meulenkamp, Angelo Balsamo, Romeo Grbavac, Paul Krohne, Pal Szekely, Andy Baetens, Liam Maendl-Lawrance, Roman Benecky, Ryuta Arihara, John Michael, Franz Roetzsch, Max Hopp, Benjamin Drue Reus, Davy Proosten, Stefan Schroder, Kai Gotthardt.

Order of Merit Qualifiers
Patrick Bulen, Patrick Tringler, Mladen Radosavljevic, Christian Gödl, Jeffrey de Graaf, Jani Keskinarkaus, Michele Turetta, Jorg Mitterlehner, Martijn Dragt, Tomáš Houdek, Tim Wolters, Luc Bogaert, Jarno Bottenberg, Loek van den Berg, Michael Unterbuchner, Nicolas Thuillier, Jeroen Mioch, Lukas Wenig, Miroslaw Grudziecki, Ricardo Perez-Ibarra, Moritz Hilger, Nándor Major, Jamai van den Herik, Simeon Heinz, Jeffrey Bekema, Jelle Klaasen, Michael Stoeten, Alexander Mašek, Patrick Geeraets, Jesús Noguera, David Rosi, Timothy Verbrugghe, Jitse van der Wal, Benjamin Pratnemer, Steven Noster, Jimmy van Schie, Sergio Krassen, Danny van Klompenburg, Oliver Müller, Johan Brouwer, Jeroen Caron, Nico Kurz, Vladimir Zatko, Kevin Lankhuizen, Jody Tobback, Marcel Gugger, Dennie Olde Kalter, Marko Kantele, Gilbert van der Meijden, Marcel Hausotter, Krzysztof Chmielewski, Stefan Schaak, Marcel Junk, Davy Verkooijen, Jannes Bremermann, Tytus Kanik, Jannis Barkhausen, Ben Robb, Jorge Garcia del Pozo, Haupai Puha, Ryan de Vreede, Jaime Nunez-Cortes, Jan Hendrik Wiechers, Born van Put, Stefan Hajek, Mareno Michels, Hendrie van Berkel, Oskar Lukasiak, Arne De Gryse, Mark Tabak, Kevin Troppmann, Laurens Admiraal, Gino Vos, Jiri Brejcha, Anoop Ramdajal, Patrick Maat, Ricardo Ham, René Eidams, William Leijten, Derk Telnekes, Davy van der Zande, Marcel Gerdon, Gabriel Rollo.

(NB: Martin Kramer and Janos Vegso will not compete in the Final Stage, and have been replaced by Marcel Gerdon and Gabriel Rollo.)

Final Stage
January 11-14
UK Qualifying School
Start Time: 1200 GMT
Each day’s winner secures an automatic PDC Tour Card
Format: best of 11 legs

European Qualifying School
Start Time: 1200 CET
Each day’s winner secures an automatic PDC Tour Card
Format: best of 11 legs

In addition to the daily Tour Card winners, a further 13 Tour Cards will be awarded to players from the European Q School Order of Merit, while ten players will come through the UK Q School Order of Merit.

—–ENDS—–

Images: PDC

Grab a 50th Anniversary Darts World package 581 here or our current print Issue 584 here :